Innovation in Language Learning

This study explores how authors of research articles in the field of applied linguistics construct their authorial identity in English and Arabic. It also compares the use and functions of authorial presence strategies in the six generic sections of research articles in the two languages. The corpus comprises 60 single-authored research articles in applied linguistics, 30 in Arabic and 30 in English. The articles are sourced from journals with high perceived standing, judged by their percentile ranking in the Scopus database. The study used a mixed-methods approach that combined both quantitative and qualitative analyses, employing statistical and discourse analysis techniques. The results indicate that there are differences in the use of the three types of self-mention between Arabic and English research articles. In addition, the analysis of the generic structure showed variation in the construction of authorial presence in the six sections of the research article in the two languages, which indicates a relationship between the textual function of language and authorial presence. The results also reveal that self-mention is used to serve a number of functions, with the Recounter function being overwhelmingly most frequently used in both corpora. The study provides insight into the complexities that emerge while constructing authorial identities across languages. These cross-linguistic variations offer valuable implications for research and pedagogy in academic and research writing.

Keywords: Authorial identity; academic discourse; the research article; English; Arabic